Networked Urbanism

design thinking initiatives for a better urban life

Design critics: Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo, principals of Ecosistema Urbano

Caring about the economical ‘layer’ of urban environments and territories. Addressing economy in innovative ways as a base for citizen self-organization, empowerment, revitalization and sustainability. How can we boost the local economy by enhancing the existing conditions and values?

Asking to several groups of citizens we realized they don’t completly agree with our idea of “barter”, even if they told us the opposite at the begining.

They showed us they were available, but when we asked for a completely participation they did a step off.

Also the association who was involved in that with a strong part on the process were unsure about the event. They gave us two reasons:

According to this situation we decided to do a step back too and to not being involved in this legal stuff.

We had a new plan for our project is just under construction!!

STAY TUNED!


Ex-cinema_Tottubella

Our team is turning bigger and bigger!! We need more space! Thus we asked an association who is actually managing the old-cinema in Tottubella if it’s possible to use the big room for our meetings and they answered we can go there just sending a fixed calendar.

Now we have an offical place for two days a week till the event!!


Meet-in Marchà Fan page

We keep on working to realize a real event  in Tottubella. This event will be at the end of June, and in order to do that we are still building our network of participants.

We built a new page on FB expanding our contacts and also to external people. We also kept the FB profile in order to have two levels of communications.

 

Mostra Mercato in Tottubella #2 Mostra Mercato in Tottubella #1

Yesterday we have been to the local “Mostra Mercato” in Tottubella, and chatting with the event organizer we realize the common aim we have. So we decided to work together, and tomorrow we will have a meeting again in Tottubella in order to discuss all the points we could share and in which way their event and their process need to be implemented and improved.

They seemed to be very open to discussion and new ideas. So they started to introduce us to other key-people who attended the event yesterday, who are really oriented in doing a free-exchange.

So far we collected the following key-people:

– Young people from Tottubella – The great part who really deserves this new process – we have several experts with specific skills or products;

– “MostraMercato” organizer – They already know how to organize an event in Tottubella, and they already have all necessary contacts with municipality – They already presents our project to the politicians who showed a good interest;

– Small producers who supports our strategy of free-exchange – (at least 3. next attendants waited for this next tuesday);

– the Priest in Tottubella – key-person for connection with families;

– AlfaUno Association – voluntary Association in Tottubella who works in the real society helping citizens – They showed us a very good help spirit and good connection with local press and media;

– Group of artists from all over Sardinia – They accepted to attend the next event without be payed – Still in process terms of exchange;

– Lollove – Online press focused on new developing process in Sardinia, art, architecture, design – We will have an article;

 


Meeting event in Tottubella anna maria zandara


Our new brand zandara anna maria


In order to present our new brand for a new market project in the Nurra area, we planned a meeting event in Tottubella, published on project’s Facebook page called “Tottu in Pares Tottubella” (Sardinian language sentence for “All together Tottubella”).

We printed out several flyiers to show citizens how the project could be developed and which step we could pass trhough to get the goal.

Flyiers

Once there we met some guys who are interested into partecipate and we found out there is an Volountary Association called “Alfa uno”, who are going to help us in order to realize our project. They offered us to meet each other together with their president, some members and the young guys, who welcomed us, in one own house of them. When we were sitting at the table all together, we had the chance to present and propose our project, distribuiting our flyiers to each one of them, and having a nice and peaceful conversation about the aim and the way to realize a real market event in TottuBella at the end of June.

They offerd us to clean up and set up an old abandoned kindergarten, that is now a storage but unused by citizen, even if it is a public building.

meeting

We planned better a strategy to produce something really different and we tried to figure out who could be the key people for the event, also realizing which activities we could really produce without paying any taxes.

In order to produce a flexible prototype for the market desk we tried to check which material we could have for free and how we could have them. Citizens seemed to be very interested and involved in the process, so far.

We are looking forward to go further and push the work to produce a real social and economical movement in the Nurra area.

 

 


Our project has a name and a logo!!

Here it is!!! It comes out from a words-game between english and Sardinian language meaning “Meet in Market“. Where “meeting” becomes “Meet-in” and “market” becomes “Marchaddu” (in Sardinian language) and then a short versione as “Marchà” —> MEET-IN MARCHÀ

Logo Meet-in Marchà

Let’s start to share it and make it working!!


Last progress can be visualized in francesca tocco profile


My work can be visualized on Francesca Tocco’s post


Studying the general strategy we get into a new part of the project.

Our challenge is to create an inverse process where you can start a cooperative without any money.
In the Nurra area people produce their own fruits and vegetables and often they produce a little surplus of its. Thus, our market is conceived for unemployed people and hobby farmers that want to develop a new social economy based on free exchange and direct purchase. This market has few rules in order to allow people to take part of it: so if you want you can buy something or exchange it offering one of your skills.

generalstrategy

The strategy is divided in 3 steps.

The first one starts from the resources (both human and natural). The human resources are represented by people (age 20-35)  from different small villages, while the natural resources are fruits, vegetables and wine typical of this area of Sardinia.
As designers,we try to organize this existing resources through a local market system where people can sell or exchange the products and their own skills. Through the Facebook page we develop a network of people that helped us to create the brand:  Meet-ing Marchà. Involving artists , distributing flyer we promote our test event in order to check if this system can really work and also for the future events.

In the second step the market made in Tottubella start circulate and involving more people from the other small villages, creating an hobby farmers consortium and involving a network of G.A.S. (ethical purchasing groups) of close cities (Sassari, Alghero, Porto Torres).

In the third step the Meet-ing Marchà will expand itself more and more and the producers will need some funds to develop their production because of an increasing demand  in order to became a professional farmer.

Now we are planning the next meeting.

Stay tuned!!


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networkedurbanism.com is a platform for sharing knowledge and design thinking experiences with the world around us, breaking through the walls of academia in an attempt to improve the society in which we live.